Chapter 3 Review.docx

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School

Western University

Department

Management and Organizational Studies

Course

Management and Organizational Studies 2181A/B

Professor

Meritt

Semester

Fall

Description

Chapter 3Perception Attribution and Diversity Perception is the process of interpreting the messages of our senses to provide order and meaning to the environment People base their actions on the interpretation of reality that their perceptual system provides rather than on reality itself Perception has three components A perceiver A target that is being perceived and Some situational context in which the perception is occurring Each component influences the perceivers impression or interpretation of the targetThe Perceiver uses past experiences to develop expectations that affect current perceptions Needs unconsciously influence perceptions by causing us to perceive what we wish to perceive Perceptual Defence is the tendency for the perceptual system to defend the perceiver against unpleasant emotions People often see what they want to see and hear what they want to hearAmbiguous targets are especially susceptible to interpretation and the addition of meaning Perceivers have a need to resolve ambiguities The perceiver does not or cannot use all the information provided by the target A reduction in ambiguity might not be accompanied by greater accuracyPerception occurs in some situational context and this context can affect what is perceived The most important effect that the situation can have is to add information about the target The perception of a target can change with the situation even when the perceiver and target remain the same Social Identity Theory People form perceptions of themselves based on their characteristics and memberships in social categories Our sense of self is composed of a personal identity and a social identity Personal identity is based on our unique characteristics eg interests Social identity is based on our perception that we belong to various social groups eg gender We perceive ourselves and others as embodying the most typical attributes of a category People tend to perceive members of their own social categories in more positive and favourable ways Bruners Model of the Perceptual Process When the perceiver encounters an unfamiliar target the perceiver is very open to the informational cues in the target and the situation The perceiver will actively seek out cues to resolve ambiguity As the perceiver encounters some familiar cues a crude categorization of the target is made The search for cues then becomes less open and more selective The perceiver will search for cues that confirm the categorization of the target As the categorization becomes stronger the perceiver will ignore or even distort cues that violate initial perceptions Perceivers do not use all of the available cues and those they use are given special emphasis Perceptual Constancy is the tendency for the target to be perceived in the same way over time and across situations exGetting off on the wrong foot Perceptual Consistency is the tendency to select ignore and distort cues so that they fit together to form a homogenous picture of the target Basic Biases in Person Perception The impressions we form of others are susceptible to a number of perceptual biases Primary and Recency Effects The reliance on early cues or first impressions is known as the primacy effect often has a lasting impact The tendency for a perceiver to rely on recent cues or last impressions is known as the recency effect Reliance on Central Traits People tend to organize their perceptions around central traits Central traits are personal characteristics of a target person that are of particular interest to a perceiver Central traits often have a very powerful influence on our perceptions of others Physical appearance is a common central trait in work settings Conventionally attractive people fare better than unattractive people in terms of a variety of jobrelated outcomes Implicit Personality Theories Personal theories that people have about which personality characteristics go together Perhaps you expect